Consortium blockchain-based IoT identity management for smart systems

Abstract

The rapid expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has highlighted the shortcomings of traditional centralized identity management systems, which often suffer from single points of failure, high latency, and limited scalability. These challenges are particularly significant in IoT environments with limited resources, where secure and efficient identity management is crucial for real-time data processing and decision-making. This paper introduces a consortium blockchain-based IoT identity management system enhanced by fog computing. By utilizing blockchain’s decentralized and tamper-resistant features, the system secures identity management, while fog computing minimizes latency by processing data closer to its source. Our system is designed to scale effectively, even in densely populated IoT deployments, while maintaining low energy consumption and high throughput. Simulation results show notable reductions in latency and improvements in throughput, with the system achieving an average latency of 175.15 ms for registration operations with a 0.35 MB payload. The system’s robustness is further demonstrated by its resilience to common IoT security threats, such as man-in-the-middle attacks and node compromise. Key contributions include the innovative integration of blockchain and fog computing, enhanced scalability and efficiency, improved security through decentralized identity management, and adaptability to emerging technologies like quantum-resistant cryptography.